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Description
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John Richard Barrett (b. 1825) is listed as a landowner in 1852 plat maps of the region that is now Tyson Research Center; he and his uncle, Richard, bought and sold various parcels of land in what is now Tyson and the surrounding environs during the decade leading up to the Civil War. Barrett was a prominent member of the St. Louis community at the time and was elected to Missouri state legislature in 1852. Barrett supported the Missouri Pacific Railroad, which broke ground in 1851 and eventually laid track north of the Meramec River and near Barrett properties in and around Tyson. Purchasing land in the area may have been a family effort to speculate on land value increases due to the construction of the Missouri Pacific railroad line. Barrett’s station, just east of Tyson across the Meramec on the Missouri Pacific line, is named for J.R. Barrett. According to the Kirkwood Historical Society, “J. R. Barret ... owned 236 acres on the west side of Barrett Station Road. He purchased this land in 1851. Three months after purchase, he signed a deed with the Pacific Railroad allowing the railroad to have the rights across his land for $5.00 while keeping the timber rights. He lost this land in 1865 when it was sold on the courthouse steps due to his default on the loan.”1
While he supported the protection of slavery in states where it already existed, he opposed the expansion of slavery in new states and territories. Barrett, his mother, and his uncle were all enslavers. J.R. Barrett is listed as enslaving and leasing six people in the 1860 federal census. He stood as security for Louis, Oscar Early, and John Evans when they applied for freedom licenses in 1853, 1860, and 1861, respectively.
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Bio
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John Richard Barrett (Barett, Barret) was born in 1825 in Greensburg, Kentucky. Around age 14, he moved to St. Louis with his father, William Derricoat Barrett, who had opened a grocery business in the city. J.R. Barrett attended Saint Louis University and gave the valedictorian speech for his graduation class in 1843.2
After opening his own successful law firm, Barrett became a well-known figure in the St. Louis legal community. He was encouraged to run for office and, in 1852, was successfully elected to Missouri state legislature. While Barrett supported the protection of enslavement in states where it already existed, he opposed the expansion of enslavement in new states and territories. This was a common position among Democrats at the time, until antislavery politics began to split the party in the 1850s. In 1857, the Missouri House representative for Missouri’s first district, Francis Blair, navigated this line as he pivoted on slavery and espoused antislavery views in an effort to curry support with a growing number of voters. St. Louisans in favor of slavery felt betrayed by Blair and nominated Barrett to win the seat back in the 1858 midterm elections. The campaign battle between the two sides was a topic of much discussion in the St. Louis press. In the end, Barrett won a short-term election, meaning that he would be able to fill the congressional seat only until 1861, when it would be reassumed by Blair. His legacy is thus one of someone defending slavery as official policy while navigating a changing electorate increasingly willing to consider the abolition of slavery.
Barrett’s other legislative efforts included support for the Missouri Pacific railroad, which broke ground in 1851 and eventually laid track north of the Meramec River and near Barrett properties in and around Tyson.3 He also had a role in the development of the St. Louis Agricultural Society, which he eventually led, in turn developing agricultural fairs at what is now Fairgrounds Park.4
Both J.R. Barrett and his uncle Richard Barrett appear on plat maps of what is now Tyson property and its surroundings, indicating that purchasing land in the area may have been a family effort to speculate on land value increases due to the construction of the Missouri Pacific railroad line. Barrett’s station, just east of Tyson across the Meramec on the Missouri Pacific line, is named for J.R. Barrett. According to the Kirkwood Historical Society, “J. R. Barret ... owned 236 acres on the west side of Barrett Station Road. He purchased this land in 1851. Three months after purchase, he signed a deed with the Pacific Railroad allowing the railroad to have the rights across his land for $5.00 while keeping the timber rights. He lost this land in 1865 when it was sold on the courthouse steps due to his default on the loan.”5
Barret’s support of the protection of slavery in Missouri benefited him and his family. Barrett’s mother, Eliza J. Barrett, with whom he was living at the time of the 1850 census, enslaved thirteen people in St. Louis County. 1845 St. Louis city censuses also record five people held in her possession in 1845. Barrett’s uncle, Dr. Richard Farrell Barrett, living next door in the same area of St. Louis County, enslaved five people, and 4 people in the same block of the city in 1845. J.R. Barrett is listed as enslaving and leasing six people in the 1860 federal census. He stood as security for Louis, Oscar Early, and John Evans when they applied for freedom licenses in 1853, 1860, and 1861, respectively.6
In 1862, Barrett lost his seat in Congress due to an investigation into bribery and fraud in his campaign for congressional office. He moved to New York City and eventually died there in 1903.
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Keywords
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Tyson landowner
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Security for
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Oscar Early
John Evans
Louis
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Dates of Tyson Land Ownership
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1851
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1851 – 1865
